approaching a crisis on the Wabash. The border settlers demanded the
removal of the prophet’s followers, stating in their memorial to the
President that they were “fully convinced that the formation of this
combination headed by the Shawano prophet was a British scheme, and
that the agents of that power were constantly exciting the Indians
to hostility against the United States.” Governor Harrison now
sent messages to the different tribes earnestly warning them of the
consequences of a hostile outbreak, but about the same time the prophet
himself announced that he had now taken up the tomahawk against the
United States, and would only lay it down with his life, unless the
wrongs of the Indians were redressed. It was known also that he was
arousing his followers to a feverish pitch of excitement by the daily
practice of mystic rites.
[Illustration: +Fig. 59+—Harrison treaty pipe.]
Harrison now determined to break up the prophet’s camp. Accordingly,
at the head of about 900 men, including about 250 regulars, he marched
from Vincennes, and on the 5th of November, 1811, encamped within a
few miles of the prophet’s town. The Indians had fortified the place
with great care and labor. It was sacred to them as the spot where the
rites of the new religion had been so long enacted, and by these rites
they believed it had been rendered impregnable to the attacks of the
white man. The next day he approached still nearer, and was met by
messengers from the town, who stated that the prophet was anxious to
avoid hostilities and had already sent a pacific message by several
chiefs, who had unfortunately gone down on the other side of the river
and thus had failed to find the general. A truce was accordingly agreed
on until the next day, when terms of peace were to be arranged between
the governor and the chiefs. The army encamped on a spot pointed out
by the Indians, an elevated piece of ground rising out of a marshy
prairie, within a mile of the town. Although Harrison did not believe
that the Indians would make a night attack, yet as a precaution he had
the troops sleep on their arms in order of battle.
At 4 o’clock in the morning of the 7th, Governor Harrison,
according to his practice, had risen preparatory to the calling
up the troops, and was engaged, while drawing on his boots by
the fire, in conversation with General Wells, Colonel Owen, and
Majors Taylor and Hurst. The orderly drum had been roused for the
purpose of giving the signal for the troops to turn out, when the
attack of the Indians suddenly commenced upon the left flank of the
camp. The whole army was instantly on its feet, the campfires were
extinguished, the governor mounted his horse and proceeded to the
point of attack. Several of the companies had taken their places in
the line within forty seconds from the report of the first gun, and
the whole of the troops were prepared for action in the course of
two minutes, a fact as creditable to their own activity and bravery
as to the skill and bravery of their officers. The battle soon
became general, and was maintained on both sides with signal and
even desperate valor. The Indians advanced and retreated by the aid
of a rattling noise, made with deer hoofs, and persevered in their
treacherous attack with an apparent determination to conquer or
die upon the spot. The battle raged with unabated fury and mutual
slaughter until daylight, when a gallant and successful charge by
our troops drove the enemy into the swamp and put an end to the
conflict.
Prior to the assault the prophet had given assurances to his
followers that in the coming contest the Great Spirit would render
the arms of the Americans unavailing; that their bullets would
fall harmless at the feet of the Indians; that the latter should
have light in abundance, while the former would be involved in
thick darkness. Availing himself of the privilege conferred by his
peculiar office, and perhaps unwilling in his own person to attest
at once the rival powers of a sham prophecy and a real American
bullet, he prudently took a position on an adjacent eminence, and
when the action began, he entered upon the performance of certain
mystic rites, at the same time singing a war song. In the course of
the engagement he was informed that his men were falling. He told
them to fight on—it would soon be as he had predicted. And then,
in louder and wilder strains, his inspiring battle song was heard
commingling with the sharp crack of the rifle and the shrill war
whoop of his brave but deluded followers. (_Drake, Tecumseh, 6._)
Drake estimates the whole number of Indians engaged in the battle
at between 800 and 1,000, representing all the principal tribes of
the region, and puts the killed at probably not less than 50, with
an unusually large proportion of wounded. Harrison’s estimate would
seem to put the numbers much higher. The Americans lost 60 killed
or mortally wounded, and 188 in all. (_Drake, Tecumseh, 7._) In
their hurried retreat the Indians left a large number of dead on the
field. Believing on the word of the prophet that they would receive
supernatural aid from above, they had fought with desperate bravery,
and their defeat completely disheartened them. They at once abandoned
their town and dispersed, each to his own tribe. Tecumtha’s great
fabric was indeed demolished, and even its foundations rooted up.
The night before the engagement the prophet had performed some medicine
rites by virtue of which he had assured his followers that half of the
soldiers were already dead and the other half bereft of their senses,
so that the Indians would have little to do but rush into their camp
and finish them with the hatchet. The result infuriated the savages.
They refused to listen to the excuses which are always ready to the
tongue of the unsuccessful medicine-man, denounced him as a liar, and
even threatened him with death. Deserted by all but a few of his own
tribe, warned away from several villages toward which he turned his
steps, he found refuge at last among a small band of Wyandot; but his
influence and his sacred prestige were gone forever, and he lived out
his remaining days in the gloom of obscurity.
From the south Tecumtha returned through Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois,
everywhere making accessions to his cause, but reached the Wabash at
last, just a few days after the battle, only to find his followers
scattered to the four winds, his brother a refugee, and the great
object of his life—a confederation of all the tribes—brought to
nothing. His grief and disappointment were bitter. He reproached his
brother in unmeasured terms for disobeying his instructions to preserve
peace in his absence, and when the prophet attempted to reply, it is
said that Tecumtha so far forgot his dignity as to seize his brother by
the hair and give him a violent shaking, threatening to take his life.
Early in 1812 Tecumtha sent a message to Governor Harrison, informing
him of his return from the south, and stating that he was now ready to
make the proposed visit to the President. To this Harrison replied,
giving his permission, but refusing to allow any party to accompany
him. This stipulation did not please the great leader, who had been
accustomed to the attendance of a retinue of warriors wherever he went.
He declined the terms, and thus terminated his intercourse with the
governor. In June, 1812, he visited the agent at Fort Wayne, and there
reiterated the justice of his position in regard to the ownership of
the Indian lands, again disclaimed having had any intention of making
war against the United States, and reproached Harrison for marching
against his people in his absence. In return, the agent endeavored
to persuade him now to join forces with the United States in the
approaching conflict with England. “Tecumtha listened with frigid
indifference, made a few general remarks in reply, and then with a
haughty air left the council house and took his departure for Malden,
where he joined the British standard.” (_Drake, Tecumseh, 8._) His
subsequent career is a part of the history of the war of 1812.
Formal declaration of war against Great Britain was made by the United
States on June 18, 1812. Tecumtha was already at Malden, the British
headquarters on the Canadian side, and when invited by some friendly
Indians to attend a council near Detroit in order to make arrangements
for remaining neutral, he sent back word that he had taken sides with
the king, and that his bones would bleach on the Canadian shore before
he would recross the river to join in any council of neutrality. A few
days later he led his Indians into battle on the British side. For his
services at Maguaga he was soon afterward regularly commissioned a
brigadier general in the British army.
We pass over the numerous events of this war—Maguaga, the Raisin, Fort
Meigs, Perry’s victory—as being outside the scope of our narrative,
and come to the battle of the Thames, October 5, 1813, the last ever
fought by Tecumtha. After Perry’s decisive victory on the lake, Proctor
hastily prepared to retreat into the interior, despite the earnest
protests of Tecumtha, who charged him with cowardice, an imputation
which the British general did not dare to resent. The retreat was
begun with Harrison in close pursuit, until the British and Indians
reached a spot on the north bank of the Thames, in the vicinity of
the present Chatham, Ontario. Here, finding the ground favorable for
defense, Tecumtha resolved to retreat no farther, and practically
compelled Proctor to make a stand. The Indian leader had no hope of
triumph in the issue. His sun had gone down, and he felt himself
already standing in the shadow of death. He was done with life and
desired only to close it, as became a warrior, striking a last blow
against the hereditary enemy of his race. When he had posted his men,
he called his chiefs about him and calmly said, “Brother warriors, we
are now about to enter into an engagement from which I shall never come
out—my body will remain on the field of battle.” He then unbuckled his
sword, and, placing it in the hands of one of them, said, “When my son
becomes a noted warrior and able to wield a sword, give this to him.”
He then laid aside his British military dress and took his place in the
line, clothed only in the ordinary deerskin hunting shirt. (_Drake,
Tecumseh, 9._) When the battle began, his voice was heard encouraging
his men until he fell under the cavalry charge of the Americans, who
had already broken the ranks of the British regulars and forced them to
surrender. Deprived of their leader and deserted by their white allies,
the Indians gave up the unequal contest and fled from the field.
Tecumtha died in his forty-fourth year.
After the close of the war the prophet returned from Canada by
permission of this government and rejoined his tribe in Ohio, with
whom he removed to the west in 1827. (_Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, 2._)
Catlin, who met and talked with him in 1832, thus speaks of him:
This, no doubt, has been a very shrewd and influential man, but
circumstances have destroyed him, as they have many other great men
before him, and he now lives respected, but silent and melancholy,
in his tribe. I conversed with him a great deal about his brother
Tecumseh, of whom he spoke frankly, and seemingly with great
pleasure; but of himself and his own great schemes he would say
nothing. He told me that Tecumseh’s plans were to embody all the
Indian tribes in a grand confederacy, from the province of Mexico
to the Great Lakes, to unite their forces in an army that would be
able to meet and drive back the white people, who were continually
advancing on the Indian tribes and forcing them from their lands
toward the Rocky mountains; that Tecumseh was a great general,
and that nothing but his premature death defeated his grand plan.
(_Catlin, 2._)
+Chapter V+
KÄNAKÛK AND MINOR PROPHETS
KÄNAKÛK
My father, the Great Spirit holds all the world in his hands. I
pray to him that we may not be removed from our lands.... Take pity
on us and let us remain where we are.—_Känakûk._
I was singularly struck with the noble efforts of this champion of
the mere remnant of a poisoned race, so strenuously laboring to
rescue the remainder of his people from the deadly bane that has
been brought amongst them by enlightened Christians.—_Catlin._
The scene now shifts to the west of the Mississippi. With the death of
Tecumtha the confederacy of the northwestern tribes fell to pieces, and
on the closing of the war of 1812 the government inaugurated a series
of treaties resulting, within twenty years, in the removal of almost
every tribe beyond the Mississippi and the appropriation of their
former country by the whites. Among others the Kickapoo, by the treaty
of Edwardsville in 1819, had ceded the whole of their ancient territory
in Illinois, comprising nearly one-half the area of the state, in
exchange for a much smaller tract on Osage river in Missouri and $3,000
in goods. (_Treaties, 1._) The government also agreed to furnish two
boats to take them up the river to their new home, where “the United
States promise to guarantee to the said tribe the peaceable possession
of the tract of land hereby ceded to them, and to restrain and prevent
all white persons from hunting, settling, or otherwise intruding upon
it.”
For some reason, however, the Kickapoo manifested no overwhelming
desire to remove from their villages and cornfields on the broad
prairies of Illinois to the rugged hills of Missouri. This may have
been due to the innate perversity of the savage, or possibly to the
fact that the new country guaranteed to them was already occupied by
their hereditary enemies, the Osage, who outnumbered the Kickapoo
three to one. To be sure, these aboriginal proprietors had agreed to
surrender the territory to the United States, but they were still at
home to all visitors, as the immigrant Cherokee had learned to their
cost. Be that as it may, several years passed and it began to be
suspected that the Kickapoo were not anxious to go west and grow up
with the country. Investigation disclosed the fact that, instead of
removing to the reservation on Osage river, one-half of the tribe had
gone southward in a body and crossed over to the Spanish side of Red
river (now Texas), where they might reasonably hope to be secure from
the further advance of the Americans. Others were preparing to follow,
and the government agents were instructed to make a strong effort to
effect the immediate removal of the tribe to Missouri and to prevent
the emigration of any more to the south.
[Illustration: +Fig. 60+—Känakûk the Kickapoo prophet.]
It now appeared that they were encouraged to hold their ground by a new
prophet who had sprung up among them, named Känakûk. The name (also
spelled Kee-an-ne-kuk and Kanacuk), refers to putting the foot upon a
fallen object, and does not denote “the foremost man,” as rendered by
Catlin. In a letter written to General Clark, in February, 1827—a few
days after the prophet himself had visited General Clark—the agent, Mr
Graham, after reporting his failure to induce the tribe to remove,
states that the prophet “had no idea of giving up his lands,” and
continues:
This man has acquired an influence over his people through supposed
revelations from God, which he urges on them with an eloquence,
mildness, and firmness of manner that carries to their credulous
ears conviction of his communications with God.
To give a favorable turn to his mind, I apparently gave credence
to his statements of these revelations, and attempted to put
a construction on them for him. He listened to me with great
attention, and, after I had finished, said I might be right;
that God would talk to him again and he would let me know what
he said. In the meantime he would use his influence to get his
people to move, but that he could not himself come over until all
had removed; that there were many bad men yet among them, whom
he hoped to convert to the ways of God, and then all would come
over. He would preach to his men and warn them from taking away or
injuring the property of the white people, and if any white man
struck them—to use his own expression—he would bow his head and not
complain; he would stop any attempt to take revenge. He seems to
have a wonderful influence over those Indians who accompanied him.
They neither drank nor painted, were serious, though not gloomy.
(_Ind. Off., 1._)
[Illustration: +Fig. 61+—Känakûk’s heaven.]
In the same month Känakûk himself visited General Clark at Saint Louis,
and in the course of a long talk explained the origin of his divine
mission and the nature of his doctrine, illustrating the subject by
means of a peculiar diagram (figure 61), and closing with an earnest
appeal in behalf of his people that they should be allowed to remain
undisturbed. Although it was said by the traders that he had stolen
his inspiration from a Methodist preacher, it is plain from an
examination of his doctrine that he was the direct spiritual successor
of Tenskwatawa and the Delaware prophet, who in their generation had
preached to the same tribe. Like his predecessors, also, he condemned
the use of “medicine bags” and medicine songs, which, although
universal among the tribes, seem to have been regarded by the better
class of Indians as witchcraft was in former days among the whites.
After the usual preliminary expressions of mutual friendship and good
will, Känakûk stated that all his people were united in sentiment, and
then proceeded to explain his religious views as follows:
My father, the Great Spirit has placed us all on this earth; he
has given to our nation a piece of land. Why do you want to take
it away and give us so much trouble? We ought to live in peace
and happiness among ourselves and with you. We have heard of some
trouble about our land. I have come down to see you and have all
explained.
* * * * *
My father, the Great Spirit appeared to me; he saw my heart was in
sorrow about our land; he told me not to give up the business, but
go to my Great Father and he would listen to me. My father, when I
talked to the Great Spirit, I saw the chiefs holding the land fast.
He told me the life of our children was short and that the earth
would sink.
My father, I will explain to you what the Great Spirit said to
me—to do so, I must make some marks. The Great Spirit says: My
father, we started from this point (A, figure 61). We are here
now (B). When we get here (C), the Great Spirit will appear to me
again. Here (B) the Great Spirit gave his blessings to the Indians
and told them to tell his people to throw away their medicine bags
and not to steal, not to tell lies, not to murder, not to quarrel,
and to burn their medicine bags. If they did not, they could not
get on the straight way, but would have to go the crooked path of
the bad here (D); that when we got to this place (the curved line,
E), we would not be able to cross it unless we were all good. It
was fire. That we should go to this place (E), where there would be
collected all the red chiefs and there would be a great preaching.
That if we had not thrown away all our bad doings, these two points
would meet (D and E), and then the Great Spirit would destroy
everything and the world would be turned over. That if we would be
good and throw away all our bad doings, we would cross this fire,
when we would [come] to water (second line), which we would cross.
There we would come to a country where there was nothing but a
prairie and nothing grew upon it. There the sun would be hid from
us by four black clouds. When we get here (C), the Great Spirit
will explain these round marks.
My father, I have now explained as well as I can, with much pains,
our situation. I wish you to tell me the truth and hide nothing
from me. I have heard that some of your warriors are going to take
up the tomahawk. I explained to you last fall our situation. We are
now here (B), where we are in great trouble. I told you of all our
troubles. I asked you to reflect on our situation and that we would
come back to see you.
* * * * *
My father, you call all the redskins your children. When we have
children, we treat them well. That is the reason I make this long
talk to get you to take pity on us and let us remain where we are.
My father, I wish after my talk is over you would write to my Great
Father, the president, that we have a desire to remain a little
longer where we now are. I have explained to you that we have
thrown all our badness away and keep the good path. I wish our
Great Father could hear that. I will now talk to my Great Father,
the president.
My Great Father, I don’t know if you are the right chief, because
I have heard some things go wrong. I wish you to reflect on our
situation and let me know. I want to talk to you mildly and in
peace, so that we may understand each other. When I saw the Great
Spirit, he told me to throw all our bad acts away. We did so. Some
of our chiefs said the land belonged to us, the Kickapoos; but this
is not what the Great Spirit told me—the lands belong to him. The
Great Spirit told me that no people owned the lands—that all was
his, and not to forget to tell the white people that when we went
into council. When I saw the Great Spirit, he told me, Mention all
this to your Great Father. He will take pity on your situation and
let you remain on the lands where you are for some years, when you
will be able to get through all the bad places (the marks in the
figure), and where you will get to a clear piece of land where you
will all live happy. When I talked to the Great Spirit, he told
me to make my warriors throw their tomahawks in the bad place. I
did so, and every night and morning I raise my hands to the Great
Spirit and pray to him to give us success. I expect, my father,
that God has put me in a good way—that our children shall see their
sisters and brothers and our women see their children. They will
grow up and travel and see their totems. The Great Spirit told me,
“Our old men had totems. They were good and had many totems. Now
you have scarcely any. If you follow my advice, you will soon have
totems again.” Say this to my Great Father for me.[2]
* * * * *
My father, since I talked with the Great Spirit, our women and
children and ourselves, we have not such good clothes, but we don’t
mind that. We think of praying every day to the Great Spirit to get
us safe to the good lands, where all will be peace and happiness.
My father, the Great Spirit holds all the world in his hands. I
pray to him that we may not be removed from our land until we can
see and talk to all our totems....
My father, when I left my women and children, they told me, “As you
are going to see our Great Father, tell him to let us alone and let
us eat our victuals with a good heart.”
* * * * *
My father, since my talk with the Great Spirit we have nothing
cooked until the middle of the day. The children get nothing in the
morning to eat. We collect them all to pray to the Great Spirit to
make our hearts pure, and then eat. We bring our children up to be
good.
My father, I will tell you all I know. I will put nothing on my
back. God told me, Whenever you make a talk, tell everything true.
Keep nothing behind, and then you will find everything go right.
* * * * *
My father, when I talked with the Great Spirit, he did not tell me
to sell my lands, because I did not know how much was a dollar’s
worth, or the game that run on it. If he told me so, I would tell
you to-day.
My father, you have heard what I have said. I have represented to
you our situation, and ask you to take pity on us and let us remain
where we are....
My father, I have shown you in the lines I have made the bad
places. Our warriors even are afraid of those dark places you see
there. That is the reason they threw their tomahawks aside and put
up their hands to the Great Spirit.
* * * * *
My father, every time we eat we raise our hands to the Great Spirit
to give us success.
My father, we are sitting by each other here to tell the truth. If
you write anything wrong, the Great Spirit will know it. If I say
anything not true, the Great Spirit will hear it.
My father, you know how to write and can take down what is said for
your satisfaction. I can not; all I do is through the Great Spirit
for the benefit of my women and children.
My father, everything belongs to the Great Spirit. If he chooses
to make the earth shake, or turn it over, all the skins, white and
red, can not stop it. I have done. I trust to the Great Spirit.
(_Ind. Off., 2._)